Chasing Happiness
by Ace the Dragon
Summary: Kevin Levin x OC Anodite. AU where Kevin and Ben interacted less but he has a good relationship with grandpa Max and recognised Gwen as an Anodite once she started using 'magic'. Long-term established Kevin x OC, nerfed/slight bashing of Ben and Gwen, slight drabble style/semi light hearted story. Romance/Family/Friends/Hurt/Comfort.
1. The Visit and the Offer

Chasing Happiness

Chapter 1: The visit and the offer

**Author's Note: Hi everyone so there are a few things that need to be cleared up before the story can begin. First of all as this story is alternate universe I have decided to take quite the liberty of changing many things. In this universe the Tennyson kids and Kevin were never working together and only ran into each other a few times. Max and Kevin met and became friends after Max caught him trying to steal high capacity batteries from the headquarters and essentially taught him how to build them for himself, Max is like a mentor to him. Supernova, known commonly as Nova, has been with Kevin since he was 8 and on the streets, her age is assumed to be the same as Kevin's.**

**P.S. This story is NOT an epic there will not be fights for the universe and some the characters are OOC. This will be kind of a slice of life story with very occasional fight scenes.**

**~Ace**

Kevin's POV

The soft light under the car was a welcome addition to his work, he loved working on cars, usually by himself but the blue Anodite's presence was pleasant. "Okay try now," he asks and using one of her curled tendrils she turns on the car, it roars to life and Kevin smirks, his car was officially up and running. Kevin had spent the last 6 months updating his baby with the most up to date Plumber technology when it gave out from the strain but after changing the entire engine and the fuel source 'Glad babe agreed'. He'd been working for the past week on making the muscle car compatible with Anodite energy, almost blew up the garage in the process when Max stopped by this morning and offered to help.

Max was a great friend especially when Earth became alien-friendly and some traffickers tried to kidnap his girlfriend. Max stopped by occasionally and they would have lunch, talk about Plumber things or go fishing. Nova and Max were heading into the house as Max was used to using their kitchen, making his own unique dishes or exotic ones from planets that he had visited, cleaning up Kevin went to take a shower. Hearing their laughter as he went up the stairs reminded him of how little Nova got to talk to Max, he was their only friend that they still saw socially. The water muffles sounds downstairs and he thinks about a conversation he and Max had last week about him working with the Plumbers more often. Turning up the hot water he couldn't ignore the fact that he only had this house because of the freelance work he did with the Plumbers, it was a good deal but he had Nova to think about. While the Plumbers paid well they also had a lot of people that might try to take advantage of his Nova, he didn't leave her alone for long periods of time anymore as they didn't like being apart and he hated when she was in stasis. Occasionally she would expend most of her energy and put herself in stasis in his tiny power bank that he had disguised as a padlock but it was hard for her to be aware of the world around though.

Shutting off the water he went downstairs, Max was sharing out food that had tentacles in it, 'Well everything he makes is usually pretty good so I'll give it a shot.' "Kevin, come sit down, I've just finished cooking up you and Supernova a treat, that undertown market I go to was freshly stocked today so I was able to make some stew with those Amber Ogia fruits you love so much. Max shared out the gloopy stew as Kevin took a seat at the kitchen counter with Nova, "Looks great Max, you know I almost don't need to cook now, you made enough for the next week," he said in jest as the Senior Plumber always made way too much knowing that he wasn't the best cook and Nova didn't even know how. Taking off his apron and laughing heartily at how Nova was digging in to the glowing red stew at a fast pace making delighted sounds as her hair expanded into large ringlets and she floated off her seat, "Well don't get too excited this is Nova's third bowl at this pace she might take your bowl too!"

Kevin and Max were planning their next fishing trip whilst ignoring how the tendrils of Mana slowly pulled at Kevin's stool and wrapped around him. Kevin kept an eye on his bowl as the 'hair' started reaching for it, "So Max, uh, how're the grandkids going?" he hated souring the atmosphere but he had to ask. Max's smile dropped slightly as he carefully thought out his answer, "Well Gwen and Ben are still in high school, Azmuth thinks I should include Ben in some diplomatic Plumber missions, so I'm thinking about having them spend some time at the headquarters, to, you know feel things out and over summer break I'll see what I could put them onto." The young mutant heard the unstated, "I don't want to but I understand how advertising the Omnitrix would benefit the Plumbers," he also knew that Max would never even give the appearance of favouring one grandchild over another so he would include Gwen and not mention that it was at Azmuth's request that they were there at all.

Getting another bowl as Max and Nova spoke about the new chop-shop in the undertown that Max thought that she and Kevin might want to go to, he thought about the Tennyson cousins. Ben was the guy that had the Omnitrix, the prized creation of the Galvan scientist, Azmuth, Kevin knew of him after he got a mission from the plumbers to steal one of his inventions back from some space pirates that were trying to sell it. Kevin also knew that the Omnitrix was meant for MAX Tennyson and not Ben but for some reason Max never had Azmuth remove it from Ben. He didn't know the kid very well but they met a few times on summers that they spent on the road with their grandfather, usually when he was trying to steal something and he didn't seem to even know what he was doing or how the world worked. He never had anything as powerful as the Omnitrix but if he did he wouldn't be goofing off and from what he heard from Max in the last 5 years he hadn't gotten any better at using it and frequently the problems he solved he caused in the first place. Kevin wasn't really in a rush to have that kid around.

Gwen was the one he was less worried about from talking to Max and the few times they ran into each other, she seemed like the more level headed one. The underdeveloped Anodite was a bit of a surprise to see but he heard that their grandmother was an Anodite and that they just found out last summer. He was weary of her when they first met as he thought that she was from Anodyne and came to convince Blue to leave with her. He saw though that she was a lot like her cousin with how reckless she was sometimes, her pride and 'I'm so much better than you at everything attitude' he knew had to be a headache to deal with.

By now Nova had swiped his bowl and Max was packing the left overs into some containers for us to have later giving Nova a hug and patting Kevin on the back. On his way out Max over his shoulder and said, "Hey Kevin, you think about that offer okay?" all he ended up doing was giving him a nod as he walked out. Shutting the door behind him Kevin thinks about what he asked, 'Being on a long-term contract would give me more work and I wouldn't have to go slumming for jobs,' he thought. Hearing Nova humming in the living room he thought, 'Nova could spend the day with me too if we sign as a team, she knows enough to help.'

He sat in the living room just watching the spacey glutton float, soft humming taking away from his unease. He would ask her later but was pretty sure that the contract would keep them afloat for quite a while. "Blue! What do you say we take the car for a spin, see how it runs on the new source?" he smirked a bit at her squeal; she was super excited to be in the new car. He reached the garage just in time to see her jump into the car's and instead of sitting in the passenger seat she enters the engine through the port he made for her and the car roars to life, the car visibly glowing her signature blue as she takes over. He doesn't even have to open the door as she does so for him and revs the engine as if to hurry him up, radio already on their favourite station, he gets in and they take off down the road at top speed.

**AN: Well that was the first chapter, let me know if you would like the future chapters to be longer, the main three characters were established and the Tennyson grandkids are hinted to be not that great hero-wise. The next chapter is already finished but future situations can be decided by YOU! Read and review, especially if you want to make a suggestion!**

**~Ace**


	2. What the future could bring

Chasing Happiness

Chapter 2: What the future could bring

**Disclaimer (forgot in the first chapter but it's her now): I don't own this series and out of sheer laziness this will not be posted in any other chapter.**

**A.N. Hey guys, so I didn't plan to post this so early but here you go. This is in a Nova chapter and gives a little insight as to how her brain works and what she thinks. Small reminder this is an AU so some things will be different, the house that they are in will be explained in the future.**

Nova's POV

Before the sun rose that morning Nova found herself above the bed staring at Kevin. She was thinking about what he said about the Plumbers and Max, 'He said that Max wanted him there but if I wanted to we could sign together and I could go with him,' she knew that he didn't want to make her do anything but would want her there. He squirmed in the bed, the cold from her early departure setting in, at night they rarely ever used the heater because she constantly emitted warmth especially when she was asleep and she never woke up first. Getting bored she turns on the heater she floats down the stairs.

She was a light blue Anodite with a navy blue centre, she glowed a constantly unless she expended too much energy or changed her appearance which she did sometimes if she had to leave the house without Kevin. Her 'hair' was a large series of curls and coils that was more often than not longer than she was tall and constantly moved like it wanted to wrap around something. She frequently used them as extra hands and much to Max's amusement as when they first met she shook his hand with a large lock of hair while in a human disguise immediately clueing him in to what she was, 'Kevin slapping his forehead was funny though'. When she was especially happy she would glow brightly, she would sometimes glow on purpose to help Kevin but when she was happy, amused or excited she would glow brightly which sometimes make Kevin laugh. She rarely ever wore any clothes that weren't manifested by her Mana, sometimes when Kevin was gone for a long time on a job she would wear his clothes and sleep in their bed for days.

Downstairs the basement was full, to the point of being cramped, with large 'alien' batteries that Kevin altered to store her energy, she tended to overproduce Mana and get sick and randomly released sparks of explosive energy. Kevin had some wires, outlets and alternators that he was working on, he wanted to rewire the house but had no idea how to make it compatible with her Mana. Less than a week ago the desk was covered in dust he had all but given up on randomly figuring out how to do it but when Max showed up and helped with the car he started bringing in new materials to use as conductors and even started drafting up home security systems that she could operate, the large 'defensive' guns making her a little nervous, he sometimes go overboard.

'It'll be fun,' she tried to convince herself that working with Kevin for the Plumbers would be fine but she wasn't really used to being outside. She knew she was too dependent on Kevin and that taking care of her had kept him from many good opportunities in the past. They were too close and Kevin was too protective for her to just strike out on her own, 'Imagine me going out when Kevin isn't home and getting a job,' she snorted at the very thought. She remembered a time that Kevin was out on a mission for 2 weeks and when he came back the warehouse that they were hiding out in had become a crater, he never left for more than a few days after that, especially if she was 'ill'. The biggest strain on Kevin's income was her near constant production of explosive energy Kevin had to steal and sometimes alien batteries and empty energy tanks but sometimes it wasn't enough and she would explode destroying the anything nearby.

She left the basement and her dark thoughts behind. In the living room she meditated a few inches above the ground using channelling her power into her hands forming tiny bursts of energy. During Kevin's ramblings about her using her excess energy to power the house, car or whatever idea he found that could save them some money, she thought that maybe he could find a less expensive way to dispose of her energy; he mentioned how she forms a human-like disguise and wondered aloud once if she could make other things. He did have a point, many Anodite's from what she remembered made many different forms and sometimes created independent condensed power a gem-like forms, from the very little she remembered of Anodyne it was surrounded by these ring and they protected the planet. The spells of the Ledgerdomain were compatible with her Mana, which made sense as Anodyne was once within the Realm of Magic before her species collectively decided to relocate their planet after the magic users of Ledgerdomain started stealing their Mana to strengthen themselves a problem that didn't end when they left.

She wanted to use her power for fun things (she was still an Anodite), she liked working with Kevin but constantly got bored when they were apart. Forming a tennis ball was her first goal as she liked to watch them bounce and if one was fun then what about a thousand! 'I could fill the living room with them!' she giggled at the thought. Forming things she noticed took a more energy than blasts or levitating, she was having a hard time getting the ball to stay formed and when it did it was a bright blue instead of green she had destroyed a few prototypes already, making sure not to leave any evidence so she could surprise Kevin.

Near sunrise she decided to try again tomorrow, one of her attempts was a greenish blue that she decided to keep, 'I'll hide it somewhere later', she thought just putting it in her hair for safekeeping. Heading back upstairs she turns off the heater and climbs back into bed with Kevin falling asleep in his arms hopeful that when their contract with the Plumbers works out.

**A.N. So there it is. A short chapter in Nova's POV, isn't she a moody one! Next chapter is a longer one with them going to Plumber HQ and will be posted before within the next 2 weeks. Remember, reviews give me life.**

**Bye for now!**

**~Ace**


	3. On the way

Chasing Happiness

Chapter 3: On the road

**A.N. Hey guys! I'm aware that this is four weeks late but I wasn't really sure what to do for this chapter. As you can see the writing style is a little different than the previous two chapters but that shouldn't be to big of a difference; I am going to try to move to a more implied point of view method that a direct one. I rewrote this so many times that I just don't even think that it matches my original idea. The chapter was getting long so I split it up and the rest will be posted tomorrow.**

**Disclaimer*: I don't own any of this fictional universe.**

***Disclaimers on a Fanfiction site don't really make sense to me so I will only be posting them once per story, I just forgot to in the first chapter.**

**~Ace**

* * *

Kevin POV

Kevin woke at sunrise knowing that after today there would be no taking anything back. He lay there trying to find a last minute excuse to not do this, 'Yeah, we could move to another planet, become farmers, never set foot within the galactic alliance again.' The idiots in the Plumber we bound to use his past against him eventually even though they needed them now what about when they didn't, 'Probably even have me do shady things then pull me up on charges.' There was chance that his contacts might get a little pissy that he was now working with the enemy and just because he wasn't a snitch didn't mean they would let this go. There was like a 50/50 chance this all went south and he was sweating just thinking about it.

Nova was fast asleep next to him but that wasn't really new, Kevin wasn't sure that she thought through what could happen if things didn't work out with this. She was pretty chill about all this and only asked if the job had good pay, 'Until they decide they need a fall guy then that money will cut off real quick,' he laughed nervously to himself. He wasn't used to being this stressed about anything but he knew of a bunch of informants in the past that worked with the plumbers and when there was a problem it became the blame game. Even with his worst jobs betrayal like that wasn't common, that kind of reputation spread around and would be bad for business only money came between partners and Kevin couldn't really fault anyone for that. He remembered many times where when there was a fight for loot bad shit went down so he always stayed with his original amount, the money was never worth being killed over almost made that mistake once but never again.

Today they were going to the Plumbers to get subcontracted for their engineering and trade divisions. He was glad that Max didn't ask him to join research; Max knew Kevin hated even telling people about the things he made so sharing it with the PLUMBERS. Getting out of bed he goes to the shower, it was time to bite the bullet. The warm water was a great distraction from the panic. He was going to read that contract a dozen times before he even thought about signing it, Max was great and all but he was too trusting of the other Plumbers, Kevin was expecting there to be some kind of wordy bullshit that would screw them over and if that happened they would be leaving.

* * *

Kevin had a ration bar before heading out; he didn't really think that they would have a chance to eat today. Nova wasn't in bed when he came out so she was probably in the car, he thought that she was too excited but at least she wasn't freaking out like he was. Going into the basement to check on the power stores he sees two more batteries the size of barrels are glowing a bright blue, Nova must have come down in the middle of the night. The basement was a big empty space when they moved in but it was slowly filled with alien batteries, they now had almost 50 and used them to store Nova's excess energy, a few times a year he would go and discreetly get rid of the energy, he couldn't sell it because he didn't let word get around that there was Anodite energy around. The waste of her energy annoyed him but he only just figured out how to get the car working with it, his baby ending up with a modified battery, engine, weaponry and a ton of others stuff. He would figure out how to work on the house later now that he had a bit of help from Max.

Leaving the basement, he hears Nova in the garage the door swung open from her probably slamming it open in a hurry. Leaning on the frame Kevin looks at the chaos going on in the garage, the lights were flashing, the car was rocking, its weapons popping out randomly; a little concerning but he didn't think she'd use the car's defences in the house. Inside the car the radio was constantly changing stations, the Anodite nowhere to be seen, Kevin knew she was just in the car's circuitry but it was a little weird to have his car freaking out and no one in it. He was glad that she hadn't done this with the old car (it was practically a new car almost nothing was the same), whenever she tried to mess with normal electronics she messed them up bad.

Knocking on the glass to get her attention, the car stops rocking immediately, everything pulls back in the radio turns off and she shoots through the port on the dashboard into the driver's seat. The fakest smile was on her face as she moves over letting him get into the car, "You know you could just ask me what's new. Damn, you filled it up, be a little more gentle next time she's gonna have to get used to you." At some point when she was messing around she filled both fuel cells, he was a little worried that she might overdo it and the entire thing give out but it seemed fine. They pulled out of the garage and sped down the road enjoying the smoothness of the car and forgetting for a minute what they were going to do.

Kevin in the corner of his eye saw the blunette perched on the seat looking out the window, not really safe but she was an Anodite so even if something happened she didn't need a seatbelt. She seemed excited and the wonder in her eyes as the sites passed was always nice to see, they didn't really go out together often anymore so whenever they did she was always super excited. They didn't always have a place to stay for more than a few weeks at a time; he remembered when they would sleep in warehouses of hitch rides under cars or at the backs of trucks. It was still a little weird some days when Kevin woke up in the house, it was thanks to Max that they even had it and he would never forget that, the man had been going all out to help them from the start.

~FLASHBACK~

They were stuck in at the edge of a tiny town in a junkyard and had nowhere else that they could hide. Kevin tried to steal food from the small store in the middle of town but was caught by the manager and almost didn't get away. The bastard was gonna remember him if he came back so they just had three cans of soup to last until they could get out of here, 'Blue's gonna hate this.' They were caught hitching a ride in a food truck two days ago when the driver saw a glow coming from behind one of the crates and they had to run. Kevin wasn't sure they would have gotten away if he hadn't freaked out seeing a bright blue hovering child. They had been trying to get into the city just past the town and now they were stuck.

Running back through the dump they were crashing in he passes a large crater in the ground. That morning Blue started freaking out and glowed super bright, Kevin almost didn't get far enough away before she exploded taking out a chunk of land and an old truck. They had to get out of this place and fast before anyone noticed what happened, no one was ever watching the place and Kevin only saw a wrecker drop off a wrecked car at the edge of the land far from the crater in the centre. Looking around he tries to find the place where he put her; she couldn't really move much after whatever that was happened so he put her in one of the piles of wrecked cars so she could rest.

A blue head pops up from under a car, Kevin was glad she was a wake but a little freaked out when she walked up to him. He was used to her not talking sometimes but having her be on the ground was weird, the first time this happened a few months ago she didn't float for a week and Kevin ended up having to pull her when they had to run from the abandoned house they were staying in before the wreckers noticed them, she just wasn't good on her feet. They sat and ate one of the cans not even bothering to cook it, he never got sick and she could eat anything.

"The next delivery truck is leaving in 3 days, I heard an old guy say they were taking corn into the city," he told her but she just ignored him, when he came back she had checked him for injuries and then went back to resting. Kevin wasn't sure how well they'd be able to hide in the corn, 'Blue's glow will probably be back by tomorrow,' her glow was barely there but wouldn't be for long. They were going to the old lake in the morning to try and get some fish to eat, he couldn't swim that good but the soup wasn't gonna last that long and the one farm they tried to get to had a ton of dogs. Putting out the fire they used to cook the soup, Kevin goes to lay in the car with Blue, no one had checked out the explosion, so maybe they wouldn't get caught before they could get out of this place.

The next day

Before dawn they started sneaking through the town to get to the lake, there was a dog at the sheriff's office that hated them and would probably smell them if they went through the middle of town so they had to go the long way around. There were no problems getting to the lake and the many reeds would make it easy to hide. Kevin left Bluebell in some reeds neck deep in water because with the sun barely out her glow was a little too bright and Kevin saw an old beaten up RV near the pier so someone could see her if they weren't careful.

* * *

They had been at the lake all day and hadn't caught anything, it was like something killed all the fish, Kevin had been going under the water so often that now the sun was completely up. Earlier he saw two kids leave the RV and head into town but an old man had been sitting on the with his fishing pole the entire time even though he wasn't catching anything. Blue wasn't doing much; still standing where he left her, when he left the water around her was warming up meaning that she was probably getting better and her energy coming back.

He swam under the Pier to get back to the reeds, they were going to have to risk the store again, because the farm was too dangerous and lake idea was a dud. Getting to the reeds he didn't see her glow, getting into the centre he popped out of the water, she wasn't there, the water was still warm but he couldn't see her anywhere, even after parting all the reeds and risking being noticed. 'WHERE IS SHE?' Kevin was panicking and almost jumped out of the reeds to look for her but he hears old tourist guy talking, peaking out he sees her standing in front of the tourist and he was scanning her with some weird alien gadget. Running as fast as he could to get there, his heart hammering, 'The hunters are HERE? How did they even know where to find her?'

As he reaches the hunter and Blue, she now has a large bag in her hand, him patting her head, Kevin freezes behind her catching some of what he was saying, "…these should help you kids out till you get back on your feet. I was a little worried who I'd find when the Rust Bucket picked up an explosion of Anodite energy, I don't think a cute little thing like you meant any harm but you should rest up the scan showed you'll be fine in a few days. Oh and tell your friend back there to be careful swimming, its October, you'll catch you death of cold." With that he went back into his RV and drove off with Kevin still frozen behind her trying to figure out how they are both even still alive. The rustling of the bag in Blue's hands draws his attention as she sits on the ground pulling out fruits, bread, canned food, a box of cereal and bottles of water. He'd talk to Blue later but for now he just wanted to eat and forget about this whole day.

~ FLASHBACK END ~

Kevin had yelled at Nova for almost an hour that night while she just sat there eating slices of bread. Back then they had a lot to be worried about he had stolen her from some aliens only a few years back and had no idea when the traffickers would find them or what they would do when they did. Kevin knew now that chances were those traffickers were off planet the same day that Kevin took Nova and might not even have cared enough to look as they had all sorts of aliens held there. They had no idea what to even do about Nova's little problem and were constantly afraid of being caught but in that moment she had been so out of it that when Max had called out to her she couldn't even remember why she had been hiding. Now they had control to the point where she didn't even have to worry about it anymore as long as they stuck to the plan and took care of the batteries.

From that first meeting on Max kept popping up in their lives with help or advice every now and then, until now where they were close enough to think of him as a friend and now he was trying to help them again, this time with getting an 'honest' job. Kevin had tried working as a mechanic on Earth for a while, he was good at it but things kept happening, alien things, that had his switching from shop to shop till now where he gave up. He'd give Max's plan a chance, just because he was a good friend and he'd never stabbed them in the back.

Nova POV

Nova saw Kevin staring almost blankly at the road, she knew he had been thinking about Max and how they met, it was the same when Max helped them get the house. She remembered that day even though it was a little fuzzy because she was so tired, Max had called out to her while Kevin was under the water, he obviously didn't expect a child, he had even called her 'Verdona', she hadn't said anything but he just knew she wasn't feeling well as he ran into the Rust Bucket and came out with a scanner. He hadn't known anything about her other than that, she wasn't alone and that they were hungry, his advice and gentle pat on the head was the first parental interaction she had ever experienced, she dreamed about it for weeks and whenever they saw him again she would always rush to him despite Kevin's initial warnings.

They were almost to headquarters and Nova felt more sure than ever that they were making the right choice, there would be problems but the mere protection that the Plumbers could provide would keep Kevin out of the more dangerous situations he'd been in lately trying to make them a living. She believed she was strong enough now to protect Kevin if any of the soldiers tried anything behind Max's back and she wasn't afraid to fight.

* * *

**A.N. So here is the journey to Plumber HQ, in the next chapter you'll see Max again so there's that to look forward to.**

**~Ace**


	4. Plumber Headquarters

Chasing Happiness

Chapter 4: Plumber Headquarters

**A.N. Here you go the next chapter as promised; I finished this at like midnight to post it.**

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Third-person POV

On the winding road into the mountains they drove careful to keep an eye out for any civilians on the way there. There wasn't much that they could do about the distance as when Max became the head of the Earth Plumbers the entrance in his old shop was removed. The headquarters was now in the mountains with a waterfall hiding the entrance, there was talk of a space station being built but Kevin wasn't sure that was true. At the waterfall Nova pressed the old Plumber communicator that Max gave them to get in, if they decided to come. There was a deep rumbling as the waterfall parted changing what was a dead end into a path that seemed to be surrounded by cameras and sensors on the mouth of the cave.

The path led to a massive cavern housed not only the headquarters but what seemed like an army training base, storage crates worth of confiscated alien tech and aliens of all types walking around in the standard armour. One of the Plumbers rifling through the storage crates stopped and stared at them, pulling out a communicator as they went past. "Well that's not threatening at all," Kevin wasn't really sure where he was supposed to go and more people were stopping to stare. "Nova, keep one hand on the port anything happens you start up and blast, okay," he kept an even tone with her but his own fear was readily apparent. One hand on the port she still looked out, unlike Kevin she wasn't afraid but she was concerned, 'There are almost no humans in here, where are they, surely earth's government wouldn't allow themselves to be so outnumbered.'

At the entrance of the monolith Max was standing with a Kineceleran and a Thep Khufan, 'Are these guys… lawyers?' the two were dressed like those intergalactic attorneys Kevin saw at the swearing in ceremony of the new ambassadors to earth. "Is it just me or do these dudes not look happy to see us?" as they parked Max was smiling coming down the steps but his companions seemed displeased, "I'm sure that it's nothing," her faux cheer didn't make him feel any better but it was all he was going to get as she had been eerily quiet all day.

Getting out of the car he was greeted by Max with a firm handshake, "Kevin! Great to see you, glad to see you changed your mind." Kevin chuckled weakly as Kevin had been saying yes then no for the last few weeks till Max just handed him his old Plumber communicator and said to stop by when he was ready. "So these are the freelancers, I must say Max you have outdone yourself," the tone the Kineceleran's tone made it clear she wasn't impressed and looking at the Thep Khufan showed he wasn't either. 'This is going to be a long day' Kevin thought as Max led them inside.

* * *

They were taken to a large almost bare room that had only a long table and some chairs. "Sorry about the lack of refreshments but we are still setting up as you can see, and not everything is here from the old base," Max apologised and they did see as they were walking through the halls and even in the glass elevator they saw a super computer being set up. "Magister Tennyson, if we could please begin," the lawyer carrying the briefcase interrupted as he set it on the table taking out documents. "Ah, well we should get this show on the road. Kevin, Supernova these are Mr Flax and Ms S-D, they are the attorney's that draw up all of the contracts for our freelancers. Mr Flax, Ms S-D, these are Supernova and Kevin Levin." During Max's introduction the lawyers had put a clock on the table that seemed to be adding Taydens by the second.

Kevin and Nova were both handed copies of the contract draft as they took seats at the table, "What you have before you is a draft that Magister Tennyson had us draw up for the two of you," Kevin shot Max a dirty look as he had clearly been planning for them long before they said agreed to work with the Plumbers. "This is a five year contract that may be renewed up to six months before…" The contract seemed pretty good from what they were hearing, Max must have been working hard trying to make all the clauses that were in it like them not being separated and protection unless in the case of unquestionable betrayal of the Plumbers' secrets. There were no problems that they could see so there was a quick recess before the signing.

"Max thought of everything huh," Nova chirped as Kevin, barely even hearing her, flipped through the pages repeatedly trying to find some trick that the suits snuck in. "Yeah, sure," he was even more nervous when he saw their joined pay, it was good, too good and why the hell were they also listed as 'advisors to the Magister'. While this was happening, Nova was getting bored with the silence and short answers. Nova was now floating near the table slowly rotating a chair with her Mana, with time more and more chairs joined until she was making them dance all over the room, progressively picking up more items and then the still focused Kevin and the contract draft were lifted with his chair in the air making slow rotations around the room upside down with him occasionally muttering about some random thing Max put in the contract, "I have PATERNITY LEAVE." Nova thought it was great, better than she expected but Kevin was having a hard time adjusting, sometimes he needed to stop and smell the roses, "They're just gonna let us TAKE the materials the Plumbers don't need!" maybe she should have tried harder to keep him calm he kept seeing things as a trap, at this rate she was going to have to drive them home.

* * *

Sensing Max walking back down back to the room, the floating furniture were gently put back where they belong but Kevin was left in the air just as the door opened. "Ah great you two are still here, I was worried I had scared you off today," the kindly man that lead Earth's Plumbers took a seat near where the two were floating looking like he wanted their approval. "It is an amazing offer Max, thank you, I think, Kevin is still processing right now," "Is this even real," there were a few seconds of silence as Max watched Kevin's back as he stared at the pages in his lap.

"Kevin, I think Max has something he wants to say." Bringing him down Kevin finally puts down the papers looks Max in the eyes and quietly, "Why?" Max sighed and looked at them, "Kevin from the moment I met you I wanted to help, but knew you wouldn't accept it. I watched from afar for years trying my best to give you two the space you needed to grow and you did, you became a man that I am proud of. There was a part of me that wanted to stop you whenever you told me about some dangerous mission that you went on but whenever I looked into your eyes I saw the conviction of a man doing whatever it took to provide for his family." He was looking at Kevin fondly, "You eventually got into mechanics and you flourished whenever you would come to me with some idea or with a new type of engine you saw on your travels I felt like I was watching a younger me. You have seen the good and bad of the world and came out amazing, you are what the Plumbers are supposed to be and you are also someone I consider a second son." There were no words in the room as both men sat there with eyes shining neither giving in to their tears, Nova on the side staring, bursting into tears when Kevin and Max finally embrace. "Let's do this," with all his fear gone they got the lawyers and signed the papers ready to enter a new stage in their lives.

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**A.N. So there it is with a bit of a tear-jerking scene at the end. This is just the beginning in a few chapters shenanigans can finally begin. The currency mentioned is canon from the classic Ben 10 universe. I also had the Plumbers be moving to a new location at this time so they are too busy to bug Kevin and Nova but not the space station because it seemed inconvenient for what I plan to do in the future. Kevin is super OOC right now but I promise it will be addressed in another chapter. You got to see more of Nova being spacy and if you couldn't tell I'm having her body function a bit more like the Galvanic Mechamorphs. The next chapter should be posted in two weeks, **

**Bye!**

**~Ace**


	5. Beginning of the rest of our lives

Chapter 5: Beginning of the rest of our lives

**A.N. Hey guys, here's another chapter, I think this one came out okay, let me know if you find any mistakes. My laptop of 3 years actually died a few weeks ago and I just got a new one delivered, so I'm busting my ass trying to catch up on my fanfiction chapters and other work that I've needed to do (really lucky this didn't happen in the middle of the school year…). I'll be posting another chapter tomorrow, as long as I finish it in time lol.**

**~Ace**

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They got home late, having gone for a drive to get over the emotionally draining day that they just had. They were parked on the side of a road overlooking the town all they could see now were the lights below and the stars above. Kevin was leaning on the car with a six-pack next to him, just embracing the silence as he drank, letting go of the stress he had been holding onto for days before they came to Plumber HQ. The view was one that they came to when they wanted to escape, the house sometimes felt cramped and no longer moving around constantly made Kevin antsy.

Laying on the roof of the car, Nova was admiring the sky, the day went better than expected and there were no incidents. Cupping a ball of blue Mana, she manipulated its shape to her will and just as she had been practicing it took shape and solidified. Pushing it to the edge of the roof letting it roll on its own to the case of beer, the sound catching Kevin's attention. As he turns she says, "I was going to save this for your birthday but here," he picked up the glowing tennis ball holding it with wonder in his eyes. "How did you…," not finding the words he just smirked and said, "You're still finding ways to surprise me." His attention on the ball once again, a rare soft smile on his face Nova stared. She sometimes saw him wondering why she chose to stay with him the day that he found her, confusion at her seemingly random antics and even his acceptance of her non-confrontational use of her power. She never tired of observing him, even when he pocketed the gift and returned to looking out at the city below she watched him until they left for home.

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Kevin POV

That morning Kevin woke up to a bright blue face smiling down at him, he couldn't help but feel as if she had been watching him for a while. Smirking up at her he asks, "Is a certain someone ready to go?" watching her speed around the room leaving little embers of mana floating around as she settled in the centre of the room above the foot of the bed. 'She's so cute,' looking around the room he saw that everyplace that had a blue ball over it was something she did before he woke up. She had set out his clothes for the day, packed an emergency bag, put what looked like toast and eggs on the bedside table and his Plumber badge was sitting in his lap. He wasn't sure how she did this, he wasn't sure how she woke up that early as he usually left her in bed in the morning but she was obviously excited with how bright she glowed. He ate the breakfast, heavily suspected that she made used the alien eggs in the fridge instead of the ones clearly marked chicken eggs but she was going to do what she wanted anyways and its not like they would hurt him.

After taking a shower and dressing in his usual ripped jeans, striped undershirt and T-shirt, he peeked into the garage to see Nova sitting in the front seat practically vibrating with energy. "I'm gonna make her sweat a bit." Sitting in the kitchen he has a cup of coffee drinking it as slow as he possibly could, ignoring the occasional roaring of the engine coming from the garage. When the engine switches off, Kevin for a second thought she was giving up on rushing him when the door to the garage flies open, blue blur speeding in. She downs his coffee in one spiteful gulp and in a less than subtle display of power, violently teleports them both into the car strapping them in, taking control of the car and speeding out of the garage and down the road.

* * *

"I had you going for a moment there," Kevin, having since taken the wheel after he agreed to stop stalling, was prodding the Anodite who had been a little miffed about his stunt at the house. She sits there pretending to not hear him making him start pulling on some of her hair, then poking her cheek in an effort to make her acknowledge him. After he starts poking her ribs, she eventually lets out a little giggle and he is pretty proud of himself, "I knew you couldn't stay mad at me." Eyes on the road he almost doesn't see her leaning over, glancing just in time for her to grab his face and plant a kiss on his cheek, "You're gonna do great." She climbed into his lap tucking her head under his chin so that she didn't block his view of the road, Kevin was used to her sometimes being overly affectionate but this was the first time she has gotten like this while he was driving. A slight blush formed on his face as he tried to focus on the road with one hand on the warm blunette in his lap, 'Max would never let me live this down.' In the past she would sometimes wrap a lock of her hair around his wrist or arm while he was driving but they usually weren't this affectionate in what Kevin considered a public place, she was rarely ever comfortable outside of the home, this was a good sign of things to come.

They pulled into the Plumber HQ Compound through the hidden entrance, flashing one of their new badges at the patrolling guards and parking. "Welcome to day one of your first ever job," Kevin snarked as they walked through the automatic doors and to the receptionist. Waiting for Max to show up they passed the time taking in their new surroundings.

* * *

Max, ever the cheerful giver came and took them to where they would be working and their co-workers. Instead of being a back room filled with busted blasters, they were taken to a huge modified area with shiny tech all around, looking up to the high ceiling they saw numerous glass walkways to some other parts of the building. Letting them have their moment of awe, Max calls over the other engineers, "Kevin, Nova, I'd like you to meet the agents you will be working with, this is Agent Fauci, he was a field agent but is now a part of the engineering department. These two are recent graduates of the academy, Nio and Gen, two former students from Galvan Prime that Azmuth recommended to us." The obvious rag-tag group of engineers were left alone to get acquainted before they start into the work for the day. Kevin found out that the hulking Piscciss Volann, had originally planned to be an engineer but after a training session on Piscciss gone wrong in his academy days he had been stuck as a guard and errand boy to Magister Patelliday constantly going from planet to planet to retrieve things for him. Nova was talking to the Galvan, Gen about the work that they had been doing for the Plumbers so far and what she got from his fast-paced rambling it seemed like they had been there for almost two years but it was in place of the normal academy system.

The work was a bit odd in that they got a mile-long list of things to repair, build or disassemble each day and only had to choose a few things to do, when they got started, Fauci and Nio were working on dismantling a set of old Plumber badges while Kevin and Nova worked with the exuberant Gen on repairing a few one-man ships. "You came at just the right time, take out that engine block, with the new headquarters, rip out that busted panel, we'll have a ton of work to do and new stuff to build." Nora seemed to have been commandeered by the Galvan as an assistant, Kevin was at the back of the vessel trying to salvage the thrusters that had been somehow crushed in various places, peeking at the two every now and then. "Geez, we're going at this thing from both ends and everything's trashed, the others like this?" Kevin asked, the small engineer had crawled through the hole in the ships hull ending up by the fuel and the amused Osmosian. "Well we do have to say that we tried, wait were these wires chewed through, when it is a lost cause we can take all the good stuff out and scrap the rest," Gen pulled at the wiring of the wreck until what looked like a piece of the control panel came out, Kevin burst out laughing pulling himself out from under the ship.

The day was eventful, Gen talking enough for all of them, Kevin laughing more at every new problem that Gen freaked out over, especially when a fuel tank he had Nova pull out was filled with Lenopan sludge and he stormed off to the break room finally calling the first ship a lost cause. After Fauci called cadets to come haul away the scrap, the other two ships were easy fixes, taking only a few hours to completely take apart, replace parts and test. The other Galvan, Nio, who they found out was mute, logged all their work for the day while their brother showed them the break room, bathroom and where to sign out. Saying goodbye to Max (and promising not to skip lunch again, they didn't even notice that they had done so) they left Plumber HQ, with spirits high.

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**A.N. Well there you have it, we met the new team and it's almost like the job attracts characters made of quirk, how fun.**

**Ta,**

**~Ace**


	6. Apology

Author Update: Hi I am having a bit of a "I hate everything I have ever done so I can't even look at it anymore." If there are reviews I haven't read them but will once I get the motivation to post again. I may post a new story or the start of one though. I'll try to get over this insecurity soon.

Toodles,

~Ace


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